LOIS (SCANLON) PADDEN

November 12, 1931 – November 7, 2025

It is with a great sense of loss that we announce the death of our beloved mother, grandmother, and family

matriarch, Lois Margaret Padden, on November 7, 2025, at 9:45 PM, in Seattle, WA, just 5 days before

her 94 th birthday. In her final hours, she was resting comfortably at home, enveloped by the love of her

family and tenderly watched over by her personal medical team: daughter, Cynthia Padden Stoddard, MD,

and goddaughter, Margaret McMahon, ARNP. That evening, Lois gently fell asleep for the night;

dreaming peacefully as she effortlessly slipped from this world into the loving arms of Jesus.

Lois moved from Duluth to Seattle in November 2024, to live with her daughter and family, and to escape

the brutal Minnesota winters. Despite her frailty, Lois never stopped pursuing personal goals. In the last

months of her life, Lois was determined to achieve a lifelong dream of teaching at least some of her

children to play bridge, “If it’s the last thing I do!” She successfully taught everyone in her Seattle

family, and established a daily routine of playing from 3-5:00 PM. The bridge games continued for

months.

Lois’ last scheduled bridge game ended as usual at 5:00 PM on Oct. 9, when Lois announced she was

going to lie down and requested family wake her for dinner at 8 :00 PM. To everyone’s absolute shock,

she was found completely unresponsive, and remained unconscious for three long days. As emergency

hospice care was initiated, all her children and grandchildren rushed to Seattle from Minnesota, Colorado,

California and Oregon to be with her when she died. But Lois had other plans. She once again shocked

everyone by suddenly ‘waking up’, 72 hours after losing consciousness; talking, eating, and behaving

normally. Left with no memory of her three-day near-death state, Lois was astonished and absolutely

thrilled to find the whole family in Seattle. She suspected they were there planning an elaborate surprise

party for her 94 th birthday.

It was entirely surreal for the family to gently explain what had transpired over the last 3 days and that

they had actually come to Seattle to keep vigil by her deathbed. The family will always cherish the divine

gift Lois’ miraculous rally provided: a priceless final opportunity to express their love, thoughts, and

gratitude to her while she was still alive and present, followed by the enduring peace that meaningful

closure with those we love brings. Lois never fully recovered physically after this event, but she remained

cognitively intact until the end. The family is deeply grateful to Gentiva Hospice for the tender and expert

care they provided during her final four weeks.

A proud Irish Catholic of the Greatest Generation, Lois was born on November 12, 1931, on the family

farm in Maple Lake, MN, Lois was the seventh of eight children born to Daniel F. Scanlon and Marie

(Geary) Scanlon. Her childhood memories were idyllic-full of fun, family, friends, a wonderful one-room

schoolhouse, and countless barn kittens- until shortly after her 10 th birthday, when Pearl Harbor was

attacked. She never forgot the dread she lived with for the next four years, desperately praying that none

of her four brothers, all servicemen, would be killed or captured in WWII. From then until the day she

died, Lois refused to watch movies or TV shows depicting war, and faithfully prayed the rosary thousands

of times for world peace.

When Lois was 14, the family moved from the farm to St. Cloud, MN. She graduated from St. Cloud

Technical High School in 1949. After graduation, Lois accepted a job with the IRS and moved to St. Paul.

She continued working for the IRS until 1955, when she married her one true love, William J. Padden, on

June 18, 1955, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waite Park, MN. Lois and Bill’s marriage lasted 53 years,

until 2008, when Bill crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

The newlyweds moved to Duluth in 1956, welcoming Cindy, Jim and Geary between 1957-1960. The

family relocated to Hibbing, MN, in 1961, where Joe was born in 1963. Having four children in six years

was a family planning strategy Lois joked she recommended to no one! While she admitted not always

being the perfect mother, she prayed that God and her children would at least give her an ‘A’ for effort.

Lois was a wonderful dedicated mother who did things above and beyond. Growing up, every day that it

was ‘hot’ in Hibbing (over 75 F), she would load up the station wagon with kids and drive 30-45 minutes

to one of the 10,000 nearby lakes where everyone swam and cooled off, including Lois! She was fearless

in the water, even when monitoring 10+ kids, which she attributed to the many summers she spent

working as a lifeguard at St. Cloud pools and beaches. She wore a metal whistle at the beach blowing it

to signal when it was time to get out of the water, and at home from the front porch when it was time to

come home. She was a legend.

Lois loved to celebrate holidays and holy days, and knew how to make them memorable. Celebrations

always involved special food, outfits, and gifts, even if it was something as simple as a new cap gun and

20 rolls of caps on the 4 th of July, or something new and green to wear on St. Patrick’s Day. She knew

these celebrations deepened children’s belief in, and appreciation for, being raised Catholic, pointing out

that no other religion celebrates as many feast days, holy days and holidays as the Roman Catholic

Church.

Lois was a devout Catholic, and a true believer. She left a legacy of deep faith in a loving God who is

always there to help us. She modeled selfless love and charity throughout her life, helping elderly and less

fortunate neighbors every chance she had. Her primary motivation for helping others was because it

pleased God; improved people’s lives, by offering them help and hope; and finally helping others made

her own life happier and richer. That loving spirit of selfless giving to others lives on in her family as a

direct result of her repeated example.

Lois is survived by her cherished children: Cynthia Padden (Michael) Stoddard, MD, of Seattle, WA; Lt.

Col. Geary L. (Stephanie) Padden, Ret., of Duluth, MN/San Francisco, CA; Joseph C. Padden, of

Hibbing, MN. She will forever be missed by her adoring grandchildren: Andrew M. Stoddard; Lt. Cmdr.

Daniel J. (Amanda) Padden; John G. ‘Jack’ Padden; Katherine Padden (Alex) Twiss. She was preceded

in death by her beloved husband, Bill in 2008, and her dear son, ‘GI Jim’ in 1984.

In keeping with Lois’ wishes, no formal funeral service was held. Instead, a celebration of Lois’ life for

family and friends will take place on Saturday, August 8, 2026, 2-7 pm, at a private family home near

Duluth. For address details and to RSVP, please email her daughter, Cindy, at:

doctor.stoddard@gmail.com. In honor of Lois’ memory, donations may be made to the Duluth Lighthouse

for the Blind, which greatly enhanced her quality of life while living with AMD (Age-Related Macular Degeneration)